Mr. Silverman is a business attorney and Chair of the Firm’s Tax Group.  He advises clients in negotiating, structuring and documenting mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and with respect to tax and estate planning matters.  Mr. Silverman provides general business, estate planning and tax advice to individual and institutional investors, tax-exempt organizations and start-up businesses.  Mike also has significant experience in representing individuals and businesses in federal, state and local tax audits.

Bar Admissions

• Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, 1989, United States Tax Court, 1990 and in the District of Columbia, 1991
• Admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court, 1990

Education

• B.S. in Materials Science Engineering (with honors), The Johns Hopkins University, 1986
• J.D. (Order of the Coif, Magna Cum Laude, Law Review, Robert M. DeBroff Award), University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1989
• LL.M. (Masters of Law Degree) in Taxation, New York University School of Law, 1990

Noteworthy

• Selected by Philadelphia Magazine as a 2006 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer

Representative Matters

• Representation of a developer in acquiring, developing, financing and operating a 130,000 square foot hotel and conference center
• Representation of a group of employees in a management buy-out of a mass spectrometer technology business division of a publicly-traded U.S. company
• Representation of a U.S. affiliate of a German conglomerate in an auction-based acquisition of the flooring adhesives division of a publicly-traded U.S. company
• Representation of numerous tax-exempt organizations
• Representation of numerous universities and institutions in their investments in private equity funds
• Representation of numerous clients in mergers, acquisitions and dispositions involving both private and publicly-traded companies
• Representation of numerous clients in all phases of entity formation, financing, obtaining capital, employment and noncompetition agreements, incentive compensation plans, shareholder and partnership agreements, long-range business planning, acquisition techniques, and exit strategies

Memberships

• Member, Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Member, Pittsburgh Tax Club
• Member, Association for Corporate Growth
• Member, Allegheny Tax Society
• Member, District of Columbia Bar Association
• Vice President, Pittsburgh Chapter of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association
• Member, Board of Directors of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Seminars & Speeches

• Co-presenter, Legal Considerations for Closely-Held Businesses, continuing professional education seminar sponsored by Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology and First Commonwealth Bank, Indiana, PA (May 26, 2004)

Publications

• Co-author, Transfer Pricing:  IRS Denies Request for Grace Period to Complete Transfer Pricing Documentation, Cohen & Grigsby Review (Spring 2004)
• Co-author, Transfer Pricing:  The IRS Proposed Regulations on Controlled Services and Intangibles Transactions, Cohen & Grigsby Review (Winter 2003)
• Author, The Time is Now to Avoid IRS Penalties, Cohen & Grigsby Review (Spring 2003)
• Author, Protocol to U.S.-Canadian Income Tax Treaty Resolves Conflicts in Death Tax Systems, Cohen & Grigsby Review (Fall/Winter 1999)
• Co-author, Navigating the Rules on Imports, Cohen & Grigsby Review (Spring 1997)
• Co-author, Changes in U.S. Tax Laws Impact Foreign Companies with U.S. Interests, Machinery and Materials (April 1995)
• Author, Court Rules on Depreciation of Customer-Based Intangible Assets, Allegheny Business News (June 1993)